Phix PHEAA

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner has released his audit of PHEAA, recommending among other things that PHEAA’s board not be dominated by legislators (news release here).  Wagner does not go as far as he should, and suggest PHEAA should be fully privatized.

To shock of many, legislators on PHEAA’s board defend having lots of legislators on PHEAA’s board.  Of course, they can’t say that it is because they likes the perks of office, but point to a bogus concern that “it might effect their tax exempt status” as though having legislators on the board is an IRS criteria for tax exemption, or that for-profit companies (like most of PHEAA’s competitors) can’t provide financial aid.

I didn’t think I would have to point this out, but there are millions of nonprofit organizations across the country and in PA (including the Commonwealth Foundation), and only a handful have boards dominated by legislators.  Those that are dominated by legislators seem to occur all too often in PA, and between PHEAA, Mike Veon’s BIG, and Vince Fumo’s Citizens Alliance they have a pretty consistent record of pilfering taxpayer money to the benefit of their legislator-board.